Yvel’s exquisite Megemeria jewelry collection is produced by Ethiopian immigrants to Israel who are learning a trade to support themselves.

Megemeria, the Amharic word for “genesis,” is also the name of a line of jewelry produced at an innovative training program for Ethiopian immigrants at Yvel jewelry factory just west of Jerusalem.

The school has a dual purpose: to train a new generation of jewelry-makers, and to give Ethiopian newcomers in Israel a boost in the workplace. Yvel founders Isaac and Orna Levy opened the school in 2010.

It is Isaac Levy’s memories of his experiences as a new immigrant from Argentina, 50 years ago, that inspired him to find a productive way to embrace the latest community of transplanted Jews. He operates the school in cooperation with Yedid, the Association for Community Empowerment.